Dao Soldiers

The Two-Faced, Three-Blade Art emphasizes a duality, hiding daggers behind smiles to kill unseen.

The Cat-faced Zombie behind him had its pupils contract into needles, its fur standing on end in sheer terror!

A normal human head suddenly growing another face on its back, grinning sinisterly at you, would feel creepy even to a zombie like itself!

The Cat-faced Zombie was clearly much smarter than the previous two. Seeing Xu Qing smile, it immediately extended its sharp claws, aiming for the back of his neck.

Whether it hit or not, it would immediately retreat, creating distance.

The Cat-faced Zombie's mind raced as fast as its body moved, but someone was faster.

In the silent night, a cold light flashed.

Like a fleeting epiphyllum, a stunning glimpse that vanished in an instant.

Immediately after, the two-faced youth, having drawn and sheathed his blade, twisted his body to face the alley entrance with the back of his head.

"Two-faced, three-blade art, who can't do that?"

As the words fell, behind Xu Qing, the Cat-faced Zombie's sharp, pointed claws, along with its head, hit the ground.

In the alley, the man who spoke of peace but harbored malicious intent completely broke down.

"This isn't the way of the Corpse Driver trade. Who exactly are you?"

It wasn't that he wasn't terrified. Corpse Drivers' methods always focused on controlling corpses. Once their controlled zombies failed to stop the enemy, the manipulator behind them would be like fish on a chopping block, at the mercy of their attacker.

This was why he refused to believe Xu Qing was a pure Corpse Driver.

After all, what Corpse Driver could fight better than their own raised zombies?

At the alley entrance, Xu Qing, who saw the night as clearly as day, had already spotted the figure hidden in the shadowy lane.

It was a middle-aged man in a long gown, with sunken eyes and a pale, ashen face, dressed as if for a funeral.

Xu Qing's neck made a crack-crack sound as he twisted it, the two faces merging back into one.

He didn't answer the man's question, instead tightening the Vajra Knuckle Dusters on his hand and walking into the narrow alley with steady steps.

He was going to let the man experience what it meant to be beaten by society.

A few breaths later, Xu Qing dragged the half-dead Corpse Driver up from the ground.

"I have quite a few treasures, gold and silver, at my lodging. Good young man, if you spare my life, I'll lead you there, and all the wealth will be yours."

Xu Qing was unmoved. He indifferently raised his fist, and the fierce, powerful force contained within the Iron Armor Zombie's body erupted.

The next moment, liquid dripped and slid from the Vajra Knuckle Dusters. He flicked away the red and white matter, wiped himself on the completely lifeless Corpse Driver, and then, carrying his unexpected haul for the day, left the alley.

Tonight, besides the fellow Corpse Driver he carried on his back, the bodies of three other zombie companions lay scattered nearby. Xu Qing looked like a jubilant old farmer, loading all the corpses onto his cart.

This sudden turn of events came and went swiftly, like a summer shower. By the time the sound of a night watchman's clapper echoed in the distance, Xu Qing was already pushing his cart, back on the road.

Recently, Linhe Fang had been experiencing frequent disturbances, not only due to the influx of refugees but also because of various figures from the Jianghu and forces with unclear intentions engaging in shady dealings.

As Xu Qing walked, he noticed significantly more patrol soldiers than usual.

Often, officials were more troublesome than ghosts.

Fortunately, his senses were sharp, and his Qi Gazing Technique allowed him to anticipate the strong Human Vitality of the patrol soldiers as they moved in groups, enabling him to avoid direct contact.

Pushing the cart into his newly purchased residence, Xu Qing felt a dense, cool earth energy wash over him as soon as he entered. He couldn't help but inhale the unique scent of a haunted house, and immediately felt his pores relax.

Closing the courtyard gate and unloading his cargo, over a dozen corpses were lined up in the dark courtyard.

When the dark clouds dispersed and the moon revealed half its face, illuminating the haunted house, it didn't dispel the sinister aura but instead made the entire courtyard appear even more desolate and eerie.

Aside from the surplus useless corpses from the Corpse Driver's Shop, there were four new corpses in the courtyard that had not yet been given rites.

With no one to disturb him in the courtyard, it was far safer than lingering on the streets and alleys. Xu Qing looked at the four new corpses laid out on the ground, ready for his disposal, his eyes gleaming with a predatory light, like a flower-stealing bandit breaking into a maiden's chamber.

Rubbing his hands in excitement, his heart was filled with the anticipation of a bountiful harvest. In his eyes, these corpses could all yield rewards from the Duren Sutra. Even forty, let alone four, would be no challenge for him.

And so, in the already eerie and unearthly haunted mansion, another "corpse-obsessed" entity appeared, one who constantly brought all sorts of corpses home.

Within the mansion, desires churned and the Duren Sutra turned its pages.

The life stories of several corpses flickered before Xu Qing's eyes like slides.

Inside and out, it was all just human hearts and ghostly schemes, good and evil, grudges and favors.

The one that concerned him the most was the life story of the Corpse Driver.

The Corpse Driver's original name was Shi Jiulu. He was an ordinary Corpse Driver, but during a trip to Shu Land to transport corpses, he happened to encounter people from the Zongwu Prefecture conscripting soldiers.

Unable to resist, Shi Jiulu was reluctantly drafted into the Zhoushan army, becoming a foot soldier resisting the invasion of the Nancuo Kingdom.

During this time, a guard officer learned he was a Corpse Driver from the Yinmen trade and sent him to a special military camp for training.

This military camp had a special designation: "Dao Soldier."

In Shu Land, only three powers could command Dao Soldiers on a large scale: besides Zongwu Prefecture, the Dao Soldier Yin Family and Gongsun Family were also quite famous.

But this fame was limited to the battlefield.

Shi Jiulu served in the army for six years, four of which were spent in the Dao Soldier camp, cultivating methods for nurturing Corpse Soldiers.

The Yin Family specialized in Four Symbols Soldiers, the Gongsun Family in Ghost Beast Soldiers, and Zongwu Prefecture specialized in controlling Corpse Soldiers!

Xu Qing felt his entire worldview being refreshed as he read this.

He had originally thought that people being refined into Corpse Laborers after death, spending their days pushing millstones and mining, was already inhumane enough. He hadn't expected even greater "blessings" to follow!

Xu Qing tried to witness the scene of Corpse Soldiers charging into battle and fighting enemies through Shi Jiulu's life flashing before his eyes. However, he hadn't expected that as soon as Shi Jiulu reached the front lines, before he could even spot any Nancuo Wu Soldiers, he, along with several other Corpse Drivers forced into corvée duty, had snuck into the deep mountains. After that, he'd drifted around until he reached the Jinmen region.

He had thought the man was an experienced veteran, but it turned out he was a deserter who fled from the front lines.

Xu Qing continued to read.

After Shi Jiulu and his companions arrived in Linhe, they resumed their old trade, earning their keep by driving and refining corpses.

However, Shi Jiulu was naturally cunning. Seeing that driving and refining corpses didn't bring in much money, he developed a wicked ambition to control Corpse Soldiers to kill and rob.

And his first target was Xu Qing, who was wealthy and influential, "artificially inflating corpse prices," and monopolizing all unclaimed bodies from the Government Office.

Seeing this, Xu Qing knew that the troubles of tonight had only just begun and were far from over!

When Shi Jiulu was dying, he had tempted Xu Qing with gold and silver, saying he would take him to his hideout to retrieve treasures and avert disaster.

But after seeing the man's memories, Xu Qing knew that the offer to exchange wealth for his life was false; the real intention was to lure him deep into the enemy's lair!

This was because there were still two other Corpse Drivers staying at the place Shi Jiulu mentioned!

Xu Qing's eyes flickered. He finally suppressed all his thoughts and looked at his current gains.

Of the four corpses, three were of the "Human" low-grade, and only Shi Jiulu's corpse reached the "Human" high-grade.

Looking at the rewards from the Duren Sutra, there was a method for raising Corpse Soldiers. There was also a White Seal Soldier Token for controlling Dao Soldiers. The rest were ordinary skills obtained from the other three zombies, such as chopping wood, building stoves, rowing boats, ferrying passengers, and rolling dice – all minor skills related to daily life.